Dark chocolate cake

Put the cream and milk in a pan over a low heat and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and the sugar together. When the milk and cream mix have come to the boil, pour it over the eggs and sugar, stirring continuously.

Pour the mixture back into the pan and return to the heat for about 1 minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain it through a sieve and then add the white chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and is incorporated into the mixture. Put into the fridge to chill for 20–25 minutes before churning in an ice-cream machine until set.

Line a 30 x 20cm baking tin with greaseproof paper and line a 15 x 8cm cake tin with cling film. Put the sugar, glucose, honey and 20ml of water in a pan. Bring it to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the temperature reaches 170°C. Remove the pan from the heat for about 10 seconds before adding the bicarbonate of soda and whisking together. Quickly pour the frothing mixture onto the greaseproof paper, leave to cool for about 20 minutes, then break into 1cm-sized pieces.

Warm the cream over a low heat and when it begins to boil take it off the heat and add the chocolate, allowing it to melt. Add two-thirds of the honeycomb pieces and mix together with the chocolate (store the rest of the honeycomb in an airtight container for enjoying at another time). Pour the mix into the prepared tin and place in the fridge to set.

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and line a 23cm-diameter cake tin with greaseproof paper. Put the chocolate into a glass bowl, add the butter and melt them together over a pan of simmering water. Meanwhile, mix together the cocoa powder, sugar and egg yolks for 4–5 minutes until they are light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites.

Pour into the cake tin and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to stand for 10 minutes, then place a saucer on top of the cake so it sinks in the middle. Allow it to cool for about an hour and then remove the cake from the tin.

Put a honeycomb bar and a small slice of the cake on each plate and add a scoop of the ice cream. The chef suggests serving this dessert with a dark chocolate and cardamom ganache and decorated with chocolate tuiles, methods follow.

Put 175ml of water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the cardamom pods and seeds and allow to infuse for 20 minutes over a simmering heat. Strain out the cardamom seeds and bring the water back to the boil.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the cardamom-infused hot water over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and then allow it to cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes). Transfer to a kitchen mixer and whisk for about 5 minutes until cool and thickened (about 5 minutes). Allow to chill for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven back up to 180C/Gas 4. Put the egg whites in a bowl, then add the sugar, flour and cocoa powder and whisk with an electric hand-held whisk for 15 seconds. Slowly add the melted butter, continuing to whisk, until it forms a smooth paste. Put the bowl in the fridge for 20–30 minutes until the mix has set.

Cut out a triangle with a base of about 6cm and two equal sides of about 12cm in an ice cream lid. Place the lid onto greaseproof paper and spread the mixture thinly over the hole in the lid. Pull up the lid and it should have left a triangle in the chocolate mixture. Repeat until you have 8 triangles then place them in the oven, 2–3 at a time, for 4–8 minutes until just dried out. Remove from the oven and immediately peel off the triangle and mould around a rolling pin. When cooled, remove the tuiles from the rolling pin.